Certainly one of the highlights of my fall is the appearance of the Top 100 lists that look back on all the wines reviewed by myself and the crack team (that’s crack – not cracked!) of correspondents with whom I work at Wine Enthusiast. Though we are scattered around the globe, and only get together in person once or twice a year, we very much enjoy each others’ company and commentary.

When the three Top 100 lists appear, in successive issues of the magazine at the end of the year, I’m certain that everyone does as I do, which is scan them to see which wines from our particular regions are ranked. Virtually without exception, the wines of Washington and Oregon play a large part in these lists, and occupy favored positions that would be the envy of many much larger and more prominent wine regions.

This first list looks at all the year’s Best Buys, and culls the top 100 out of a total of 922 Best Buys. These represent about 5% of all the wines that were reviewed throughout the past 12 months, so this list is the best 10% of that 5% – quite an honor! And once again, the Pacific Northwest is amply represented. Here’s a quick rundown, listing them by their Top 100 rank and their scores. Full reviews are posted online. The entire database is offered at no cost, unlike other subscriber-based websites. Note that all of these wines carry a suggested retail price of $15 or less, and many can be purchased for under $10.